The invention relates to audio systems for use in motor vehicles, and specifically to speakers used in automobiles.
In obtaining the best audio fidelity possible, speakers play a crucial role, and several factors govern how well a speaker will perform. In automobiles and other motor vehicles, location becomes a particularly significant factor because of the impracticality or impossibility of moving the speakers once they have been installed and because of the limitations imposed by the physical dimensions of the interior of automobiles and other motor vehicles, especially with the growing popularity of smaller automobiles which have less interior room. For example, the conventional dashboard speakers have the disadvantages of being placed relatively low and misdirecting sound into the windshield, with the net result that audio fidelity is impaired. Similarly, conventional speakers installed on the rear compartment below the rear window are too far removed from the occupants of the front seat and misdirect sound into the rear window, which again loses and distorts sound. Door speakers are mounted too low and direct sound to the listener's legs. Door speakers also take up precious interior room or may require cutting into the door. Furthermore, door or dashboard speakers are typically fixed in position so that the sound cannot be redirected to various places in the automobile with the result that an automobile owner installing an audio system with such speakers will be limited to having good audio fidelity in only one area of the automobile.
Some movable speakers for automobiles have been developed. Clip-on speakers for sun visors or windows have been available in the past, but they have disadvantages. Clip-on window speakers typically are attached by a clip to the top of a window, requiring the window to be open, which is undesirable in inclement weather. Clip-on sun visor speakers which clip to the top of a sun visor expose wires and can be hazardous if they fall off, particularly on the driver's side. These speakers also extend outwardly from the sun visor and take up an excessive amount of room. Furthermore, such clip-on sun visor speakers are attached to only one side of the sun visor and, depending on the side to which they are attached, they may get jammed against the roof or against the windshield when the sun visor is moved to its horizontal or vertical position, dispersing all their output onto the roof or windshield, which renders them eventually nonfunctional.